this morning on "first

look," they missed the deadline but two hours into the new year the senate voted in favor of a budget deal that now goes to the house and president obama wants action today. revelers from around the globe, from rio de janeiro and beyond, welcome 2013 with a bang. and a few peculiar traditions. we say good-bye to the safest year in air travel ever, and say hello to over 400 new laws. good morning on this first day of january and a happy wonderful new year to you all. i'm bill karins. now it's all up to the house. they're expected to take up a senate measure approved just hours after midnight aimed at halting an enormous tax hike for all but the wealthiest of americans from taking effect. the final vote was 89 in favor of the deal with 8 no-votes coming from three democrats and five republicans. nbc's steve handelsman has the latest details from capitol hill. steve? good morning and happy new year to you.

>> reporter: bill, thanks, good morning on capitol hill. members of both political parties who badly want these middle class taxes rolled back fast hope what the senate did this morning makes it easier for house republicans to follow suit. it was a rare bipartisan vote, 89-8. two hours after america went off the fiscal cliff, vice president biden came to the capitol to sell the fix he worked out with gop leader mitch mcconnell who spoke for senate republicans. >> we don't think taxes should be going up on anyone. but we all knew if we did nothing, they'd be going up on everyone. >> reporter: the senate voted to reverse today's tax hikes on 98% of americans. but to keep the higher rate on families making over $450,000. president obama took credit for breaking 20 years of gop opposition to tax hikes.

>> keep in mind that just last month, republicans in congress said they would never agree to raise tax rates on the wealthiest americans. >> reporter: five senate republicans voted no. >> middle class families will wake up today to the assurance their taxes won't go up $2,200 each. >> reporter: not so fast. house speaker john boehner and his gop lawmakers might not go along. boehner sent house members home to celebrate the new year without a vote to avoid the fiscal cliff. >> listen, this is disgusting. and everybody involved should be embarrassed. >> reporter: the economy could still take a hit. while the house takes up maybe later today whether to follow the senate's lead and hike taxes on the wealthy. from capitol hill, steve handelsman, nbc news. bill, back to you. >> reaction to the senate's move was swift as many people were still up welcoming the new year. familiar faces on msnbc were in rare form starting with joe

scarborough who tweeted, why can't washington ever put together a deal that cuts spending? this deal fails on most counts. it's a distressing failure of leadership. "morning joe" regular steve ratner tweeted, the only thing worse than this deal would have been no deal, or maybe not, he added. ezra klein wrote, obama isn't making it easier for rs to vote for this deal but probably thinks if the rs kill it they get all the fiscal cliff blame. new information on secretary of state hillary clinton and the blood clot that has her hospitalized. the clot is located in a vein in the space between her brain and skull near her right ear. it did not cause a stroke or neurological damage. doctors say clinton should make a full recovery and she is making excellent progress. the blood clot is related to the

concussion clinton suffered earlier this month. it was discovered during a follow-up exam sunday. from amazing fireworks displays to ancient traditions to our favorite polar plunges. folks around the world marked the beginning of 2013 in their own unique way. nbc's kirk gregory takes us on a tour of all those crazy celebrations. >> reporter: the first major city to celebrate 2013 was auckland, new zealand. fireworks and boat horns rang in the new year. in australia, a seven-ton fireworks display dazzled hundreds of thousands in sydney. with an estimated 1 billion people watching on tv worldwide. a large crowd counted down to the new year in shanghai, china. while in tokyo, japan, buddhist monks rang bells to cleanse sins. nato soldiers serving in afghanistan took time to let loose and dance their way into 2013. nato has more than 100,000 soldiers serving in afghanistan,

including some 66,000 u.s. forces. in central russia, these brave souls took an icy dip to greet the new year. the water temperature, a brisk 37 degrees. while in the united arab emirates, the world's tallest building set the stage for a giant celebration. in paris, tens of thousands celebrated at the eiffel tower. while in london, big ben rang out the old and rang in the new. and the tradition continued in the big apple. tens of thousands crammed into times square to officially welcome 2013. kirk gregory, nbc news. >> beautiful kisses to start the new year. on the first day of the new year, more than 400 new laws go into effect around the country. here are just a few. in maryland, same-sex couples now have the right to marry. and the wedding ceremonies started just after midnight in

baltimore. california and illinois have both banned employers from forcing their workers or job applicants to hand over passwords from their personal facebook or twitter accounts. california's also outlawed using hounds to hunt bobcats or bears after lawmakers decided it's not a fair fight. in florida, flash away. police can no longer give tickets to drivers who flash their headlights to let fellow motorists know there's a speed trap ahead. here's your new year's day look at this morning's dish of scrambled politics. former utah governor and republican president candidate jon huntsman told "the daily telegraph" the gop is like a holding company that is "devoid of soul." a new gallup found president obama is the most-admired man in america. is this our first poll of the new year? for the fifth straight year. the same poll found the most-admired woman, hillary clinton.

guess how many years in a row? 11. after this morning's vote on the fiscal cliff, outgoing texas senator kay bailey hutchison tweeted this at 2:43 a.m. i just cast my last vote in the u.s. senate. it has been an honor to serve in the greatest nation on the earth. the term fiscal cliff, i tried getting it banned, is at the top of the 38th annual list of words to be banished by lake superior state university. others on the list of unliked words? double down. plus spoiler alert. trending. and guru. and a new petition has been started on the white house website calling for an end to stupid petitions. it says, white house petitions are being gamed to the point of absurdity and maybe it's time for the petition to end all petitions. meaning this one. and that's your morning dish of "scrambled politics." let me get you out the door or sit on your couch to enjoy your plans for later in the day.

let me get you up to date on your forecast. i know last night it was freezing cold in the northern plains. painfully cold in areas like fargo, minneapolis, a lot of people probably decided to stay indoors. it's going to be that way all day. windchills still in the negative numbers. look at kansas city, denver, chicago. the coldest air of this winter season is headed your way. the east coast, a little warmer, no problems there temperature-wise. we do have to deal with rain. it was pouring last night for new year's in some areas of east texas, houston, shreveport. the rain is trying to shift toward new orleans. we have rainy wet weather in areas of northern mississippi, streaming through tennessee and areas of the carolinas. that's where your wet weather's going to be on new year's day. here's a closer view of the radar. it's just plain old rain. there's no snow, no ice to deal with, anything like that. but kind of a rainy, gloomy start to your new year, especially northern mississippi, alabama, north georgia, as we go throughout the day. your new year's day forecast, first of 2013, no big storms out there on the way. it looks like a quiet start weather-wise to 2013.

minimum wage goes up in ten states today. a decent year for stocks. did you notice? plus 2012 was the safest year for air travel ever. you're watching "first look" on this first day of january 2013. [ sniffs ] [ sneezes ] [ sniffles ] [ female announcer ] for everything your face has to face. face it with puffs facial tissues. puffs has air-fluffed pillows for 40% more cushiony thickness. face every day with puffs softness.

i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. happy new year and welcome back. some stories making news this morning. two people were killed and three injured in a new year's eve shooting in sacramento, california. officials canceled the midnight fireworks show that had been scheduled. the israeli military says shipments of building materials will be allowed into the gaza strip as long as the relative quiet along the border holds. it's israel's first key concession of a cease-fire made last month. the food and drug administration has approved the first new tuberculosis drug in more than four decades. it's for use with older drugs to fight a hard to treat strain of tuberculosis that has not responded to other medications.

members of the motion picture academy has an extra day to vote for oscar nominations. problems with the new electronic oscar voting system, like forgetting passwords, might cause low turnout for nominations. looking back at 2012, there's one milestone we want to mention. considering the general dissatisfaction americans feel for air travel, despite the cost and the sheer hassle, the fact is 2012 is in the record books as the safest year for air travel ever. not just in this country, around the world. nbc's tom costello reports. >> reporter: the numbers speak volumes. every day worldwide, there are 93,000 commercial airline flights. 3 billion passengers a year. and yet not a single fatal commercial airline accident in the u.s. in nearly four years. worldwide, 2012 is going down as the safest year ever, with just one accident for every 5.4 million flights.

veteran aviation safety expert john cox. >> what's significant about that is that we're improving by 50% over last year, which was the aviation's safest year previously. it's an incredible feat. >> reporter: why the improvement? pilots have never been better trained. computerized cockpits monitor every aspect of flight. alert systems warn of a potential mid-air crash or mountain ahead. hd simulators for pilots and air traffic controllers train them to handle emergencies before they face a real one. debbie hersman is chairman of ntsb. >> we've learned from accidents, plowed those lessons back in, they've been embraced and we're not seeing repeats of those same accidents. >> reporter: experts say two accidents in which human failure was at least partly to blame underscore that remains the biggest threat to safety. air france 447 crashed into the atlantic in 2009, killing 228.

that same year, regional airline colgan air flight 3407 crashed in buffalo, killing 50. >> colgan air was a watershed event for aviation safety, in particular, bringing the regional carriers up to standards with the major carriers. >> reporter: the safety culture is spreading. accident rates are dropping in russia, africa, latin america, the caribbean, and asia. despite the dramatic improvement in safety, experts say there's a real danger here. just when you start to think, it can't happen again, is often when you're the most vulnerable. tom costello, nbc news, washington. >> thanks, tom. 2012 may be history but stocks provided many 401(k)s, pensions, and other investors pretty good news last year. despite the bad economic news. traders get the day off but the dow was up 7.3%. the nasdaq up a healthy almost 16%. the s&p 500 had its best finish

in three years soaring to over 13%. starting today the minimum wage goes up between 10 and 35 cents an hour for workers in ten states having an impact on the income of about 1 million workers. get ready for groceries to get more expensive this year. if they're not expensive enough, prices are expected to rise. ford can claim to have the best-selling car around the globe with the ford focus claiming the top spot. did not know that. for what it's worth, a few so-called financial experts tell our friends at cnbc apple stock could grow as much as 20% over the next few years because the company plans to accelerate product upgrades. we shall see. in sports, start with college football. an exciting new year's eve finish to the chick-fil-a bowl. clemson down two, the kick, this is to beat lsu. good. s.e.c. loses, acc wins, 25-24. nice upset by clemson. in the sun bowl, georgia tech scored two touchdowns in the

second half against usc for a 21-7 victory. usc was the preseason number one team in the country, finished 7-6. in the music city bowl, vanderbilt's jordan rogers connected on two touchdown passes and ran for another, commodores beat north carolina state 38-24. liberty bowl, tulsa's alex singleton scored three touchdowns as the golden hurricane beat iowa state 31-17. there are six more bowl games today, starting with the gator bowl. mississippi state against northwestern. then it's purdue versus oklahoma state in the heart of dallas bowl. i love these names. they change every year. in the outback bowl, south carolina faces michigan. in the capital one bowl, georgia takes on corn huskers from nebraska. to the rose bowl. usually the granddaddy of them all. wisconsin against number six stanford. in the orange bowl, this one has my interest. because northern illinois is playing 12th ranked florida state.

in the nfl, not a good day to be a head coach. all the following fired. the eagles' andy reid, chargers norv turner, the bears' lovie smith, that's after a winning record but a bad finish to the year. the browns' pat shurmur. and i'm not done. also cut loose, chiefs' romeo cornell, bills' chan gailey. the cardinals' ken whisenhunt. worth noting -- the jets' rex ryan survived the day. at the annual car jumping championship in england, drivers used a ramp to try to fly over ten wrecked cars and land on the other side. most of the fearless competitors weren't even close. not like they're really trying. just ahead, keeping up with the kardashians is about to get a ratings bump. wish i wrote that but i didn't. while we don't condone wasting food, check out this fruitcake toss. details next. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. ever.

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congress won't win any awards for public service this year, but recipients of the congressional medal of honor are another story. they remind us what it means to serve our country. in war, yes. also at home and every day of their lives. nbc's mike taibbi has the story of two veterans who are passing along hard-won lessons to a new generation. >> reporter: at first blush it wasn't much of a parade. a couple of hundred yards, a crowd just a few deep along the way. and two old soldiers the honored guests.

>> we are proud of you! >> reporter: perhaps no one deserves a parade more. major general pat brady and lieutenant colonel bruce crandall recipients of the congressional medal of honor. the nation's high els salute. for both men, both helicopter evac pilots, vietnam was their war. brady saving more than 60 wounded in one day of pure hell in 1968. and crandall, three years earlier, braving enemy fire on 22 straight missions. the stories celebrated in the hollywood film "we were soldiers." >> medevac command, are you inbound? >> reporter: today the men are on a new mission as part of the congressional medal of honor foundation's character development program that's now touched down in 44 states. a free lesson plan for schools like this one in acton, california, that trains teachers how to translate the values learned a half century ago in combat to today's youth. >> it's to make heroes, good people who do courageous things,

out of young people like you. that's what it's all about. >> reporter: the message here, you don't have to be in battle to be brave and honorable. >> i will have the courage to say no if someone asks me if i want drugs or alcohol. >> good one. >> reporter: that's the point of the program, says one of its architects, medal of honor recipient and nbc military analyst colonel jack jacobs. >> if we don't transfer to the next generation notions like service and sacrifice and patriotism, then all the hard work, all the sacrifice of the previous generations, will be for naught. >> reporter: enter brady and crandall. history and heroism brought to life. >> it's much harder to wear it than it is to get it. >> they really went out there and did their best and did make this world a better place. they changed it for the better. >> i don't mind talking to the young people. because it's -- kind of keeps you young. >> reporter: two old soldiers nowhere near ready to just fade away.

mike taibbi, nbc news, acton, california. >> thanks, mike. here's your first look at some of the other news going on around america. connecticut police arrested a man following a violent rampage at a walmart. the suspect attacked two men, one in the parking lot, the second one in the store when he punched the elderly greeter in the face. the one that greets you when you walk in the door. the 54-year-old is in police custody on a $25,000 bond. police arrested one man and are hunting another connected to stealing 100 unique meteorites loaned to a north carolina science institute. the fallen stars recovered from the christmas eve heist are worth over $80,000. it may not have the madness of times square but folks in lisburn, pennsylvania, have their own wacky way of ringing in the new year. on new year's eve the town drops yellow britches in honor of the yellow breeches creek. creative.

organizers in southern california applied the finishing touches to the incredible mobile flower arrangements that will make up the 124th tournament of roses parade. marching bands and floats are ready to go. you can watch that entire parade on nbc. in nebraska, folks have a unique way of getting rid of the holiday treat, the fruitcake. the fruitcake filleting. it was a huge hit. people of all ages jumps at the chance, nice arm, to chuck the unwanted christmas gifts. now for entertainment news. what's the new year without a psy update? he rang in the new year at times square telling jay gray he might be ready to move on from gangnam style. >> i cannot just, you know, stay here. i got to move forward. i'm working on a new thing. but if i keep doing this and then, you know, it can, you know, ruin my creative. i'm saying that but i won't.

never. >> let's hope he's not a one-hit wonder. for the most shockingly obvious news of the day, if you didn't see this coming we need to talk. the pregnancy of kim kardashian will be documented by e! with the network president saying they are looking forward to the newest kardashian addition. he failed to add, he'll love the high ratings that will come with it. we're told to expect more diapers, more bottles, more fabulous babywear. probably their own clothing line, too. the little-known christian slater film "playback" has the honor of being the lowest-grossing film of 2012. i'm sure you never heard of it. earning $264 on a $7.5 million budget. ouch. now i've got to rent it and watch it. i'm bill karins. hope you have a wonderful start to your new year. this is "first look" on msnbc. [ man ] ring ring... progresso

this reduced sodium soup says it may help lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just have to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.